The new CEO of Ferrari North America Inc. hopes to raise U.S. sales with the new lineup of models coming soon. Marco Mattiacci took charge of the position on January 1st, replacing Maurizio Parlato, who was fired after seven years of heading the North American operations.
Mattiacci was placed in charge amid sales drop in the U.S. Volume fell 14% in 2009 to 1,467. In an effort to change the situation, Ferrari has stopped the delivery of cars to dealers. Instead, the cars shall be built only for those customers who possess signed contracts. In addition to giving this report, dealers have also pointed out that the arrival of the new California coupe, originally planned to go on sale in early 2009, was delayed and arrived only in midsummer. As a result, the car missed an opportunity to increase its sales in the prime selling season.
The 458 Italia unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show last September is already receiving rave reviews from critics. Deliveries for this car have just started, replacing the older 430 version, which many dealers have referred to as their bread-and-butter seller.
Ferrari saw a dip of more than 7 percent in revenue last year to 1.78 billion euros. The employee strength was cut by 182 last year to 2,835. Mattiacci expects that the two new models shall do well in the market. He expressed confidence in the brand’s heritage and product lineup. Having been the head of marketing under Parlato until 2006 when he became CEO of Ferrari Asia Pacific, he knows the American market well enough to turn things around.
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